University of Calcutta

History

Year of Establishment : 2005

History of the department : To give emphasis in teaching and research in emerging technologies the University of Calcutta has established a new Department of Applied Optics and Photonics in the year 2005. The new Department is created by carving out the existing infrastructure and expertise of the Optics and Optoelectronics division of the Department of Applied Physics of the University of Calcutta.

The year 2005 has been dedicated to the year of Physics synchronized with the discovery of photons hundred years ago. It is fitness to the event that the Calcutta University has decided to establish a new department entirely devoted to the study.

The relevance and rationality of creating a new department devoted to the advancement of learning in the area of Applied Optics and Photonics lies in the long standing expertise of the faculty and the current demand and importance of the of the area concerned. Applied optics and photonics, as we understand today, is not merely a marriage of optics and electronics but a separate field of study and active research based on the guiding principles of electron and photons. The relevance of the area in modern day technology is beyond any iota of doubt. The easy availability of high power coherent sources and matching detectors, high quality optical components, a diverse range of optical fibre waveguides for propagation and electro-optic and acousto-optic modulators have opened up new horizon of research and dissemination of knowledge.

The new Department of Applied Optics and Photonics is a derivative of the Department of Applied Physics, established in 1925 to initiate an integrated approach in the teaching of technology in the University of Calcutta. Though the emphasis of teaching in those days was distinctly in electrical technology, a strong research base was also established in the area of molecular spectroscopy. In 1930 the department established a 21 feet Paschen-Rowland concave grating having 30,000 lines per inch, the largest of its kind in Asia in those days. Using this grating notable research work was carried out in poly atomic spectroscopy in the infrared region. After the independence when the country was transforming its technological base "by and through indigenous agency", the University reconstructed the department by bringing the department under the newly created faculty of technology. A new M.Sc.(Tech) course in Applied optics and illumination technology was introduced in 1951 which was the first of its kind in the country.

In the year 1962 the two year M.Sc(Tech) courses were converted into three year M.Tech courses in Applied optics and Illumination Technology and under the recommendation of the UGC the three year M.Tech courses were reoriented to three year B.Tech and two year M.Tech in the year 1969. The entry qualification was the B.Sc (Hons) degree in Physics. During seventies the department was identified as the only center offering courses in applied optics and providing facilities of research. Studies were conducted in the area of image formation, visual perception and design of optical systems.